Apple plans to make Siri more agentic next year as AI agent race heats up: Report

Apple is reportedly planning to make Siri more proactive next year by giving it the ability to take actions and complete tasks on its own. The move could help the company compete with the growing number of AI agents that can work in the background without needing constant instructions from users. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple wants to turn Siri into a more proactive AI assistant. Apple is also reportedly changing its software development process to give engineers more time to build and test new features.

Apple may make Siri a more proactive AI assistant

Apple recently introduced its long-awaited personalised Siri with iOS 27. The update offers several improvements that the company had promised back in 2024. However, Siri still has limitations when it comes to independently completing tasks for users.

This could change next year. Gurman reported that Apple wants Siri to work more like an AI agent. This means users may be able to give Siri a goal, and the assistant could figure out the steps needed to achieve it.

Gurman noted that AI agents such as Dots, Meta's Muse and xAI's Grok Bot are already moving in this direction. These tools can use their own virtual computers to perform tasks, track goals and deliver results without constant user involvement.

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Apple changes its engineering process for iOS 28

Alongside its plans for Siri, Apple is reportedly changing how its engineers develop new software features. According to Gurman, the company wants to give engineers more time to write code, explore ideas and develop features before moving to the integration stage.

Earlier, Apple's development process generally divided an eight-week cycle into two equal parts. Engineers spent four weeks developing features and another four weeks integrating them into the operating system.

For the first development cycle of iOS 28, Apple has reportedly changed this schedule. Engineers will now get six weeks for coding, experimentation and feature development. The remaining two weeks will be dedicated to integration.

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